Saturday, June 07, 2008

Comment Is Difficult

Here's a handy hint. If you need a cubic metre or more of concrete laid, don't mix it yourself. Even if you've got a concrete mixer. Took me from 10am to 11pm. Order a mixer load - it's well worth it in saved time !

Over at the Stroppers people were getting all lathered up about George Galloway's failure to support abortion on demand. Laban just had to add four penn'orth on the usual subject. Anyone know how many Irish came over to the mainland in the nineteenth century ? The comparison is quite an interesting one. Too many kids, strange religion, terrorist outrages - the Irish ticked all the same boxes ...

Be fair. Galloway's core constituency are very un-keen on abortion (I'm suprised there's not been an NHS campaign to encourage greater take-up of the State's termination services among the Muslim community).

And that's where the votes are. The 'revolutionary left', for want of a better word, don't reproduce much - and, not by coincidence, haven't come near to Parliamentary representation in the last 50 years - until GG, supported by the most rapidly growing demographic since perhaps the Irish in the nineteenth century, stepped up to the plate.

The Irish Catholics had an impact on Labour politics which lasted more than a century (and working class Catholic Labour MPs like the Mahon brothers were at the forefront of opposition to Roy Jenkins' abortion reforms). The cultural influences were also great - and although most Catholics have integrated, they still have more kids then the native English.

But when the Irish arrived, with their families of five, six or more, they were arriving into a society which also had a high birthrate. The immigrants from East and West Pakistan arrived in a country where the birthrate was collapsing as the Pill and the cultural revolution took hold. Their demographic, political and cultural impact will be at least as great as that of the Catholic Irish, and IMHO probably much greater.

GG, for all he is an opportunistic bum, is not a stupid man. He knows which side of his chapati has ghee on it.

How many divisions has the Pope ? asked Stalin. GG might well ask how many voters - and future voters - the SWP has.

At least when many of the Irish were brought in, nobody bothered with lying about why - they were brought as strike-breakers, to the disadvantage, presumably, of the strikers. But everyone has lied for decades about the effect of the postwar immigrants on the native toilers.

To just what points were these many Irish brought in to break strikes?

Laban,

I would respectfully suggest that there is a critical difference between Irish and Muslim migration, that being the religiously sanctioned concept of 'umma'. The Muslim has an ordianed obligation to his fellow Muslims which, to my knowledge, has not existed in any other different group. In itself, this represents a barrier to integration.

The fecundity of Catholics is somewhat mythological. You will be telling me next that Eire is over-populated and Italy has a crisis brought on by its high birth-rate.

And surely if you are "integrated" than on balance you are most likely to be married to an indigene? In which case an "integrated" Catholic family is unlikely to have more than 50% Catholic parentage. So even if they had a high birth-rate - could you blame it on the Catholic element?

Not one of you better posts, Laban. Engage brain before typing next time please.

I believe that 43% of the population are against abortion. Which would mean that most of them couldn't possibly be either Catholic or Muslim. It's not just the religious that believe in "the santitiy of life". But I have noticed that it is the religious that believe in "holier than thou"

I've just this moment come back from Northern Ireland, where the writing on the wall is very much that of the demographic destiny. The Catholics are now palpably gaining the upper hand (not that it is reasonable to describe it in such a calculating way). It's a whimpering rather than a banging kind of revolution.

Demographics is rather like compound interest. It doesn't take much of a percentage to make a critical difference in the long run.

Id heard that the Catholic demographic advantage in NI had tailed off in recent years. The projected date of their majority being pushed further and further into the future.

Needless to say its an affront to all right thinking people that Catholics be forced to live in Britain against their will and we are all agreed the day there is one more Catholic than Protestant in NI the whole Province should of course be given to the Republic.

Unionists of course show signs of being pro-British and monarchist therefore one of them can hardly count as much as a real person.